Baines’ Camp: The Lowdown

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Lovely Baines camp, is small, very comfortable, and has a stylish, modern décor.

What’s Baines’ Camp really like?

There are only six rooms at Baines’, so you get to know the other guests well, but not in an intrusive way. Rooms are large and light and airy, as they’re mainly wooden and raised up on stilts above the floodplain. There’s a bathroom and discreet loo off to one side and a lovely deck in front of your room. The design at Baines’ works well (someone’s thought hard to take care of all of those practical details that can so often let luxury hotels down) though the latest refurb means the décor definitely leans more towards the contemporary chic than rustic bush style. We loved the Africology products in the room, but what we loved even more was coming back from a late evening game drive to find our giggling room steward and her friend creating an astonishingly bubbly bath to enjoy on the deck. What we loved even more (later on) was finding our four-poster bed rolled out on the deck for a glorious night under the stars.

Over in the main camp, apart from being hugely impressed by the lovely staff, we had a great supper, delicious breakfast and great company. It’s worth knowing that here, unlike many safari camps in Botswana, each vehicle dines separately, so Baines’ is well suited to travellers seeking more privacy. We should also mention there is a small pool here- bliss during the baking summer months if you don’t fancy a snooze between game drives.

What can I do at Baines’ Camp?

As always in the Okavango Delta, activities at Baines’ Camp depend on the water levels, however both game drives and water-based activities should be possible for most of the year. There are morning and afternoon game drives in open 4×4 vehicles (we were entranced by young hyenas tumbling around outside their den) and mokoro trips from just nearby the lodge. These were wonderfully peaceful, except for the young elephant who was fairly determined we were not going in the same direction as him. Lastly, there are walking safaris on the concession. Baines’ has a splendid additional activity- there’s a 3-seater helicopter for flips over the Okavango Delta– particularly wonderful for landscape photographers. Please let us know if you would like to do this as it needs to be arranged in advance.

Giving back at Baines’ Camp…

In such a fragile part of the world, protecting the environment is key, and we were pleased to see that when Baines’ was built, sustainability was firmly in mind- if you peek at the wall just inside the entrance you’ll see that much of the lodge is built from recycled tin cans!

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